


In Search of the Unknown Episode 3

by KennyF7



Series: In search of the unknown episodes [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Anthology, Hidden meanings, Horror, Lovecraftian, Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators, Psychological, Suspense, Thriller, disturbing topics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28665378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KennyF7/pseuds/KennyF7
Series: In search of the unknown episodes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100765





	In Search of the Unknown Episode 3

Content warning: This story has themes of sexual assault and posts traumatic stress, viewer discretion is advised  
After the two episodes of the series came out, the excitement was building up. The paranormal and cryptid community was taking interest in it. After seeing the same creature talked about over and over and the same proof given ad nauseam, it was a welcome change. Those two communities were interested in that these groups wanted to have proof of what they believed in. They wanted video evidence of the pool and tar samples from "Sasquatch". This was a bit of a problem for the group because they roped the people in, but now they had to keep their attention. They needed more proof and more evidence since interest steamed on the realness of the story.  
Dalen realized this and he needed to demand more work from Trevor and David. David felt fine with this since he worked on the equipment and they only filmed when the script and research were done, he had a lot of time on his hands. Trevor, though resistant to having to work more saw the toll the research was doing on Dalen. Trevor saw how drowsy Dalen had become, and he felt he needed to make sure that Dalen didn't go insane. Dalen could be obsessive, his mind putting a fine grip on anything he found interesting. This made him tenacious and dedicated, but it also made it so that he would stay on a project that wasn't worth the effort. One example Trevor could think of was the time made a short film on the research of the Arctic. Dalen near the end of the project found out that one of the memoirs he read was undeniably false. The story was essentially a tall tale in the frame of actual research. This led to Dalen not sleeping for nearly three days, and not having proper sleep for a few more. Feasibly he could have done a simpler short film and still gotten a decent grade, but that felt too much like “giving up” to him. Trevor wasn’t much for seeing Dalen breaking down again in a restaurant after thinking spiders were under his skin.  
The most Trevor lost were extra smoke breaks. He does have the feeling he'll lose more sleep over this if it gets worst.  
So, they toiled more and more on the research. The kooky stories were thrown out, then the ones spoke about, and finally the stuff that felt real enough to be investigated. Some were very conspiratorial, always describing the feeling of being watched or government intervention. Some of it could be attributed to a misinformed mind or someone who wasn't mentally unwell. They were a bit harder at the start to see if they were real, but the veil would break quickly, some of it quickly turning into hate speech. Speaking about Jewish conspiracy about how Black Psychics were controlling the minds of School shooters. It became clear that they would attract some disturbed minds, which bothered all of them. It worried them that they could be enabling people who need medical or psychological help.  
The group became wearier to the stories paying attention to words or thought processes that could originate from delusion. This made going through them so much more difficult.  
After a few tiresome days of reading statements, David found something. He even kind of recognize the name of the person. This person was in a few news reports recently. Dalen though felt skeptical of the story when it was presented to him. The story had all the trappings of a Schizophrenic or Dissociative personality disorder. The feeling of being watched and the way identity is put into question. There was a lot of scrutiny on whether it was true. Yet, they do have evidence that the person telling this was real and not some hoax. David was insistent that they should do this one next. He had the feeling deep in his mind that this was real, and that it needs to be told.  
Dalen trusted David's instinct and started to write the script for the story. He had a feeling that this story may not be as liked as the ones they made before.  
Excerpt of a diary entry made by Former Local News Anchor  
Dan Recheck

I know what you might be thinking, I'm going insane, that this is just late-born Schizophrenia or some other mental illness, but I won't listen to you. I am not Dan Recheck; this is not my skin that I wear. This isn't my hair, my clothes, my house, my job, this isn't my life. I'm not even the same sex.  
My real name is Dominique Lane, and I will tell you what happened to me. I worked at this local news channel named "Valley and Ridge News", and we did the news in that respective region in Georgia. We had a small but dedicated audience who were usually old folks that had grown up with the channel and had a nostalgic tie with it. Our younger audience wanted to support a smaller business, they saw us as the underdog, someone who was fighting for true Journalism. They were kind of right, we have more time to do research and have less of a need to go for more sensational news, but we have exaggerated a few times.  
One of the reasons people stayed was Dan Recheck. He was very charismatic and had an optimistic attitude. He unlike almost every other news anchor had an accent. Most anchors use a plan accentless voice to be able to be understood by a larger audience. It can be very noticeable, especially if you're the cameraman like I was. Yet, Dan kept his gritty country accent, but he still made sure he was understood. It made him sound sincere about what he was saying. It kept some new people from tuning in, but the people who did would stay.  
Dan was friendly though when he was, he seemed more aloof when he was off-camera. He usually would try to leave as soon as possible. He did talk to the other staff and he would talk to them for a while. From the times he talked to me, I found he didn’t much like talking about himself. He had a few funny stories, but I noticed he would repeat the same story to other people, so he didn’t have much about himself to talk about. He always asked most of the questions. He would ask about my family, if I had any pets and how I felt about religion or if I went to church, and my daily routine. It almost felt like I was being interrogated, but I did for some reason trust that he would not use the information against me.  
One thing that bothered me was his smile. He had a very distinct toothy grin. It looked good on the news, but he continued to smile that even off the air. It felt weird like he was every ounce of strength he had to smile. He used it all the time, and it seemed as natural to him walking. It was disturbing though when he would try to talk through that jovial expression, it felt uncanny.  
I worked there for a long time and had become acquainted with everyone there. I was quite happy like I was helping to keep something alive. The small building became my home away from home. Despite the artificiality of it all, sitting in the break room with the fluorescent lights beaming down on the white walls made me feel calm as I drank my cup of coffee.  
I also hang around in the prop room, which I would organize at the beginning of each day. It may sound silly, but the use of props made our news channel have just a little more charm. Though we never use the large mirror in there, since it affects the lighting so much.  
Close to midnight, I was in the prop rooming making sure everything was in place for tomorrow. I thought I was alone, or at least I thought I was. I was just about the leave when I saw Dan at the door. I jumped at the sight of the tall man; I don't know how didn't notice his presence until then. I warned him 

to not scare me like that, but he didn't say an apology or anything. He just stood there with a wide smile. That's when I noticed he was blocking my way out.  
His blue eyes were piercing through me. It felt like he could see into me, it felt gross and made me feel uneasy. I asked him to refuse, but nothing I said seem to register. His smirk grew wider with each demand I made for him to move; his face so stretched it looked like it would tear in the middle. My skin felt as if bugs were crawling underneath my skin, my body making me feel red hot and cold as I began to silently panic. I asked louder until I was yelling at him.  
That's when he ran at me, quietly and swiftly pinning me to the ground. He had a tight grip on my wrists, he was extremely strong, even more than I would have expected from him. He looked like how a predator looks at his prey, nearly salivating at what's he's caught. His eyes wide, and his teeth grinding as he kept me in place. I screamed and struggled, and nearly wept.  
I never felt as weak as I felt at that moment. I thought he was going to strangle me or rape me. I never would have imagined what he did.  
He let go of one of my hands and began to reach for my face. I wasn't going to allow him to go any further, so I began to hit him with my now free hand. I threw the hardest punches I could give in such a position, unable to give much buildup to. He didn't flinch at the hits. It felt like I was hitting a rubber.  
I searched for anything that was by me. That’s when I grabbed a hammer that was laying on the carpeted ground. That’s when he put his disgusting hands on my face, and then I slammed the hammer into his jaw.  
He toppled over me. The force of the attack pushing him into the large mirror close by. His head slammed into it and slowly slid down to the ground. No blood came out of his body, but he was completely still. The mirror had cracks all over it like a spider’s web.  
This is when everything changed. The feeling I suddenly felt will be almost impossible to completely describe to you, but I'll try all I can too. You must know this horrid sensation. Imagine suddenly having no skin, or at least feeling like you no longer do. Your hands and fingers no longer look like hands, and you don't recognize your own body. I didn't know what my brain was, it may have well been an amorphous blob of thoughts and worries. You feel like a plastic doll, genderless and sexless. Your hair doesn't exist anymore. Neither do your bones, your nails, your clothes, your skin color are all unknowns. My identity was as malleable as clay.  
I looked upon that mirror and saw that I had no face. I was no longer Dominique Lane.  
I looked down and saw what seemed to be a mask. I looked closer and saw that it was the face of Dan Recheck. I then looked to see Dan's; I mean that things body on the floor. It was as unknowable as me, it's identity unknown.  
His body began to change morph, it contorted, his clothes changed, and his pigment changed as we. I looked at that thing in horror as it became me.  
It got up, and it was completely identical to what I was. It's smiled the same as Dan's when it got up, a look of smugness, of triumph. I was so distraught and confused at my existence I no longer could do anything, except perceive.  
It looked at me, and it thanked me.  
“This new face will be quite useful, I appreciate your contribution, thankyou”  
I would have hurled if I had known I had a stomach, yet I did not know.  
It walked away, that disgusting smile still plastered on it.  
I was alone, I had no face and few options to do anything. Without a face, I could do nothing. The only other face available for the taking was Dan’s. It laid there on the ground, inviting me to take it. I did take his face.  
His bones, his skin, some of his memories, his life were now mine. I could do nothing else but take his identity. The new Dominique had left, I don't know where it didn't even leave a notice of its departure. It even left my home, which is left with all my possessions, including my ID and bank account information.  
I had nowhere to go, and no one would believe me.  
I had to stay and be Dan Recheck. I was the anchor, and a news cameraman was hired. I had memorized how Dan acted and I was able to take the role over time. It felt horrific to smile the way he did. It felt like someone hammering nails into my chest, and I nearly broke down on camera the first time I did. The worst part was how easy it was to do, there was no struggle to it. His muscles had memorized the movement of his face.  
Life felt horrifying. The person I looked at in the mirror was someone I was petrified of. I was so afraid of reflections I had to hire a therapist. I also discovered that even his alcohol addiction stayed, and it took an uncomfortable amount of time to go sober.  
After four years of this, his skin became familiar to be in, and I could live a daily life. I still have nightmares, but I’m scared to go anywhere else.  
In the town where the Channel resided, and where I lived, called Rickshaw. I was having a walk around town when I saw posters for the new person campaigning as mayor. His aged face looked familiar, but I have never seen him before in my life. I decided to go to one of his rallies to see what he was planning for our humble town.  
He came up, and I realized why I recognized his face.  
The smile, the same smile it had was on him. It looked like someone put a massive sticker on his face. It looked as unnatural as when Dan had it, or when I saw it on me. It took another face as its own. My blood rushed through me quickly, and bile rose my up throat. Fear, fear unlike any other came back to haunt me, as I saw it again. It took my face and threw it away as soon as it no longer has a use.

I felt vulnerable again, and I couldn't handle such feelings anymore. I wanted him dead, that thing to finally bleed if it does bleed. I will end this thing's rampage.  
I know where I will go once, I kill it, but it will bring me untold of satisfaction seeing the look on its face as I show it what it's like to be prey.  
End of excerpt  
What made the story more worrying is that Rickshaw is not too far from the town that Dalen, Trevor, and David both live in and work close by.  
What happened after the excerpt was all over the local news, Dan Recheck attempted to kill the Mayoral candidate of the town of Rickshaw. The news anchor was luckily stopped by a brave citizen who tackled the would-be killer.  
Dan Recheck was later put into court for the crime. The jury would deem Mr. Recheck as mentally unwell and suspected to be schizophrenic and was not given the prison sentence. Instead, he was taken to Covehill's mental hospital, where proper care would be given to him. There was no following news on his state in the hospital.  
Without Dan, and the new stain on the channel’s history, “Valley and Ridge News” would unceremoniously discontinue on the air. The news network has been shut down for two years.  
Dalen was Apprehensive about the idea of making an episode on this. The story hit too close to home, and he felt the story would be too upsetting. David argued that if he wanted to go anywhere, he had to worry less about if he is going too far. He will only go too far when he does not give the story the service it deserves. To David, what Dalen needed to worry about more is if he gives what happened in the story proper respect.  
Whether his assessment was correct or not can be disputed, but it convinced Dalen to continue forward. This felt genuine, and David was not going to let this one go. He felt like he was being willed to get this episode made, it almost scared him.  
Trevor felt ok with the decision, at least he could finally do his job of editing.


End file.
